Thermodynamics and Limiting Reactants

[Tyler Angtuaco 1G]

Question 5.55 part b reads, "A sample of graphite of mass 5.20 kg and 125 g of water were placed into a 10.0-L container and heated to 900 K. What are the equilibrium concentrations?" (In part a, we found the equilibrium constant using the equation delta g naught = -RT*lnK). The solutions manual finds the limiting reactant based on the equation C(s) + H20(l) <-> CO2(g) + H2(g) before beginning an ICE table for part b. How come we never considered the possibility of a limiting reactant (or at least were required to find it) during our unit on equilibrium concentrations?

[Harry Zhang 1B]

If the problem does not specify whether the reaction happens in the excess of reactants, you should always consider the possibility of limiting reactants.